Teenage Female Motorist Injured at Dangerous, Unguarded BNSF Crossing
(Harrisburg, South Dakota – August 7, 2012)
An as-yet unidentified teenage girl was injured and her car extensively damaged when she was struck by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train as she drove west on 274th Street just south of Harrisburg, SD Tuesday morning.
A Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy said the victim never heard or saw the train before it hit her car as she traversed the dangerous, unguarded crossing, which is “protected” only by a pair of standard, passive railroad crossbuck signs, completely lacking any active protective systems such as flashing lights, bells or crossing gates which statistics have shown to be 90% effective in preventing such accidents..
The girl was taken to Canton-Inwood Memorial Hospital in Canton, SD for treatment of undisclosed injuries.
